Five killed by car bomb at US checkpoint

The Arabic TV station al-Jazeera broadcast videos of two Iraqi women vowing to carry out suicide attacks yesterday after three American special forces soldiers and two Iraqis were killed when a car bomb exploded at a checkpoint in central Iraq.

A pregnant Iraqi woman stepped out of the car as it approached the checkpoint and began "screaming in fear", officers at US central command in Qatar said.

Moments later the car exploded, killing three soldiers, the pregnant woman and the driver. Two American soldiers were injured.

The Iraqi government news agency said later yesterday that two Iraqi women had carried out a suicide attack on US forces, but did not specify where or when.

The two videos broadcast by al-Jazeera were similar in style to those made by Palestinian suicide bombers.

Each showed a woman standing in front of the Iraqi flag, with an assault rifle in her left hand and her right hand resting on a copy of the Koran.

"I have devoted myself [to] jihad for the sake of God, and against the American, British and Israeli infidels, and to defend the soil of our precious and dear country," said one of the women, who identified herself as Wadad Jamil Jassem.

The other said she was "mar tyrdom-seeker Nour Qaddour al-Shanbari" and swore to "take revenge on the enemies of the [Islamic] nation, Americans, imperialists, Zionists." .

The bomb attack happened late on Thursday close to the Haditha dam, north-west of Baghdad, which was taken by special forces to prevent it being destroyed by the regime.

Despite the reports of suicide attacks, it was unclear whether the pregnant woman was one of the women shown in the video, and there was speculation that she and the car's driver had been forced to take the car to the checkpoint.

Last Saturday a man posing as a taxi driver apparently blew himself up in a car at a checkpoint near Najaf, killing four US soldiers.

Some reports citing western intelligence have suggested that the bomb was detonated by remote control and was not a suicide attack.

After that incident, commanders ordered a " review of tactics", telling soldiers to stand further away from cars approaching checkpoints.

Accounts from embedded reporters with US forces around Nassiriya and Najaf spoke of wary soldiers opening fire on any civilians thought to be behaving suspiciously.

On Monday US troops shot dead at least seven women and children when their car failed to stop approaching a checkpoint near Najaf. An investigation is in progress, but officers at central command said the troops were working within the rules of engagement.